incessant rambling

the title Black Magic Mary is enough to conjur images of a witch draped in black robes similar to that of the Virgin Mary albeit with a more sinister aura. in Sta. Maria Church in Siquijor, a saint wearing a black habit holds a skull in one hand and an "inverted cross" in another is fast gaining a reputation that is probably influenced by the mystic history of the island itself. locals have speculated that the skull is actually her husband's and that she murdered her husband for reasons that seems to have been lost in history. a bit of research show that the locals refer to the saint as Santa Rita de Siquijor, probably a Filipino convention where we name the Virgin Mary with annexes related to places (e.g. Our Lady of Guadalupe). my own research led me to discover this particular "myth" in an effort to know more about Santa Rita de Cascia who is the patron saint of a church and town named after her in Pampanga. The first thing that caught my attenti...

San Guillermo, Bacolor Pampanga i find it embarrassing, really. everyone i asked couldn't give me the answer when i asked if they knew the name of Mama Mary's mother. and if you're one of them, i bet you just popped another browser tab open to try and research the information in google. I wouldn't have known if I didn't get the chance to visit barili in cebu and chanced upon a church dedicated to her. It is doubly embarrassing that as a catholic i don't know that piece of information. The locals excavated the original retablo and mounted it closer to the dome of the original church which leads me to a thought of how we name churches and the saints that magically bestow its protection over the town that carries their name as a patron. i guess, naming every church after Jesus or Mary would be a bit confusing. in a recent trip to pampanga, i asked my hosts to bring me to bacolor to get the chance to visit the remains of the church that got buried i...

At the start of this particular millennium, I read for the first time about Santiago de Campostela in a book by Paolo Coelho who wrote about his pilgrimage in Northern Spain. I didn’t expect that I’d be reconnected with the same history in a town much closer to home in Betis, Guagua, Pampanga. take note of the wooden floors, low view of the main altar from the entrance betis church, exterior The curiously grand baroque church of Betis is dedicated to the town patron Apung Tiago, otherwise known as St. James the Great. The name Santiago is an abbreviation of the original Latin “Sanctus” and standard Hebrew “Ya-agov” or “Ya-aqo” that means “lacobus” in latin. “Lacobus” means “lago” or “Jaime” in Spain and translates to “James” in English. the baptismal area wide view of the altar Santiago de Campostela is famous in Gallica, Spain as a pilgrimage route that leads to the shrine where legend says the dead body of Santiago was brought by angels in an unattended boat fro...

did anyone see the front page picture of imelda marcos doing a duet with gwen garcia in yesterday's sunstar? i'm posting another picture of the ladies with imelda holding up an "I Love Cebu" shirt together with gwen. i don't understand why we are celebrating a lady whose family has been convicted of plundering the philippine coffers? the only reason why i would have my picture taken with imelda is if i get the chance to post it in facebook with an arrow pointing at her labeled "FREAK!" i kept my silence when they recently published a picture of a gloating imelda as an honored guest in a recent museum opening in cebu if only for the small amount of satisfaction seeing madam in a "prison" turned museum. that's the closest you'll see her behind bars. we pinoys have this uncanny ability for forgive and forget. unfortunately, that hasn't taught us to learn from our lesson. today, more than ever, corrupt political families are buil...

i don't understand this "DESIRE" to catch a movie on its first day. it's not like the Transformers Dark of The Moon plot is going to change after a couple of days. Megatron is still going to die and Sentinel Prime is still a traitor. oh wait, did i just give a spoiler? can i just rant for a bit? putakting sm eto, amputchang sakit ng neckers ko looking up the crotch of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, pati kulangot ni optimus prime kitang kita ko, in 3D. dapat ipagbawal ang neknekeng first three seats in the front! parang kumain ako ng isang toneladang lechon at nahilo ako pagkatapos panoorin ang super-feeling-close-up action right in front. speaking of transformers, there are a lot of that in the philippines. boy by day, girl by night. and if this is not enough, i read in the newspaper that the mega-transformer herself, dr. belo just announced her engagement with hayden "manyak" kho. di bale, vicky can fulfill the fantasies of hayden of having a virginal...

we here in cebu have this term SSB which actually means "sakit sa baboy" or "pig sickness". no, it's not a local term for the "foot and mouth disease", rather, it's the curious sleepy syndrome when you had too much to eat. much like the baboy that would flop on its side and roll around in a mud pond after a heavy meal. i felt like doing a belly flop and do just that after my cholesterol busting, hypertension causing, heart attack inducing dinner at zubuchon. silly, i meant my bed, not a mud pond. the "see through" kitchen :) - check out the menu! we were on our way to merto for a grand burger dinner when my companion suggested we try the restaurant that just opened in one mango (right in the heart of cebu city). i had my tummy set for the oh-so-luscious-delicious beef burgers of merto but my ears perked up when she mentioned the restaurant name "zugbuchon". after getting a glowing review about the "best pig.... ever...